Many of you peeps whom have follow my post or this trip series so far would have known that Hallstatt is top of my bucketlist and the best place that I have ever step foot on! I mean you can definitely do it as a day trip, touch and go, in fact the bulk of the tourists do this! But why should you step into the common ground. Stay, stroll and enjoy one of the greatest place man ever found. Take your time, after all this is one of the most leisurely place that you could find yourself in! This also gives you the opportunity to really embrace and experience how Hallstatt really is. Getting away from the crowd and buzz that the huge amount of tourists arrive in the late morning to afternoon that makes it so much more touristy! But I got to say! Hallstatt is a small town, in fact even a bottle of water cost up to 3 times more that what you get in other cities! Take it into consideration that Austria is one of the country that water is dirt cheap! Thus to really enjoy the scenic, quietness and peacefulness of the place the cost really increase. Expensive accommodations, food……all leads to the increase in the costs. Being a small town, there isn’t much place to stay at. I did have to say I did book the place pretty early, in fact roughly around 3 months prior to my trip and the only options available was only Gasthof Bergfried and another one due to a conference in town! Let me take you on a tour of one of the most beautiful room in town!
I stayed a total of 2 nights in Gasthof Bergfried, a little bed and breakfast in town. It is marketed like a hotel but really like a cosy little bed and breakfast. It is located in the lower town which is near the bus station, the location is really perfect. The rate that I paid was 96.70 Euros a night including the city tax of 1.70 Euros. It is a double room with a balcony of the alps. If you are staying 3 nights or more, breakfast is also included and if not it is 5 Euros per person. P.s The breakfast is really good and given the offerings you get in the morning at town, at the price, 5 Euros is really worth it for the buffet breakfast.
As I mentioned earlier, the hotel is located in the lower town near the bus station. This place is really perfect, after all, besides the town itself the other 2 main attractions that you would want to head to would be the Salt Mine and also the 5 Fingers Lookout in the nearby alps. The Salt Mine is directly behind the hotel. As for the 5 Fingers Lookout and the alps you can take a bus right at the bus station which is like 20 steps from the hotel. This is the place where you can find the tourists office and also most of the ground transport. Here is also one of the 2 supermarkets you can find in the whole town. The other located near the ferry station! Just to get a picture of the whole Hallstatt for you guys. Across the lake is the town of hallstatt. At the main area, where the church is located is known as the upper town, then on the other side is known as the lower town. The ferry station is located in the upper town, most of the fancy hotels is also found here. Only a single road link the upper and lower town so you definitely can’t get lost! At the lower town is where Gasthof Bergfried can be found, this is also the place for the bus station! It is an easy walk of roughly around 10 mins between the upper and lower town.
The bed and breakfast is located at a historically Austrian alps like house, it is really iconic, in white finishing and the roof. You can find some parking around the house, I believe that parking is free if you stay here which is another one of the perks since parking is kinda hard to find for a small town and it is expensive as well. To know how I got here you can refer to my earlier post. If you can’t find the place, just follow the small road directly opposite the bus station! The entrance and reception of the place is simple like any bed and breakfast! Do note to inform the place of your arrival time since the reception does not open 24hours. It is only open from 9am to 7pm. But truthfully, when I always head down to the reception to pay the bill! There was always no one to be found. So especially when you are arriving late. Let the hotel know! The check in process was simple and smooth, the person was polite and gave me all the information that I need to know, if you are staying at the hotel you can also get discount for the Salt Mine and 5 Fingers Outlook Tickets.
I had a double room with balcony facing the alps and it is really magnificent. Located on the second floor you have to take some stairs up. It is another one of those traditional key lock, so you get the heavy keys. The room was huge and decked in green palette. I have no idea why green but it is okay. The main highlight here was the balcony. Simply checked out the view.
I could see the entrance of the salt mine directly from my room and the view is so good. It is really peaceful. It isn’t too noisy in the morning and evening. Sometimes I will just stand out there and simply enjoy the view, pondering, what have I done in live to deserve such delight. There was a small coffee table and 2 chairs, but honestly, it is pretty cold. The room was huge, a double bed and also a tv opposite the bed. The room was finished with wood furniture which blends in so well with the environment and gives such a cosy feeling. I really like wood furniture for my vacation home. I mean everyone wants drop down glass windows and marble finishing in a loft in manhattan, stylish as it is, wood is cosy, period. The bed was pretty good, firmness was there, however is it the usual european style two twin bed join together which isn’t that comfy with a gap in the middle. I get how efficient it is but an actual double bed would be better. The pillow were crap, like paper but I somehow got used to it in hotels.
Now for the bathroom, it is a decent size which came with no toiletries which I think it is a good thing to take note of! Thankfully the water is hot and pressure is good. Yea, I am that anal on the water pressure!
On the first day I didn’t get breakfast since I intend to make a early trip to the nearby alps and the 5 Fingers Outlook. You will be surprise at the offering early in the morning. It is a town so be prepared, you could grab some bread at the supermarket the last night or there is a little bakery and cafe near the bus station which is where I settled for the morning with a croissant. I went out super early to embrace the scenic place and hopefully catch the sunrise with no avail! HAHA. But it was nice enjoying the quaint and scenic view! Peace!
I did had the breakfast at the hotel on my last day before leaving for Cesky Krumlov since it is a sunday and everywhere is close on a sunday. Wooooo the 5 Euros is the most well spend in my whole trip. It is really good and for the price, really money well spent! You get like cheese, ham, bread and all the usual stuff. The coffee is great and the juice. In addition there was pan fried ham and also ribs. Score. Really worth the price given the cost of food around town! I enjoy the pound cake here as well!
To put it to point, it is a place that I would definitely choose to stay again, baring the wifi issues, but come on, you don’t come to Hallstatt to use the computer, delight your eyes with this gorgeous view instead! Next up I will share on one of my best meal I had in Austria and also the trip to the Alps including the famed 5 Fingers Lookout!
Seeing The World In Steps 